How Do Owen Hunt & Nathan Riggs Know Each Other On 'Grey's Anatomy'? These Army Buddies May Have A Shady Past

Owen Hunt’s had his share of problems on Grey’s Anatomy — love triangles, choking his wife in a PTSD-induced comatose state, pretty much being responsible for the plane crash that killed some of his friends — but he’s never had a nemesis. Well, until now, that is. Nathan Riggs and Owen Hunt are clearly enemies, but why? What happened in their past that makes Owen hate Nathan so much, and what will happen now that Nathan is crashing Grey Sloan?

To get everyone up to speed, Nathan Riggs (played by Martin Henderson) was introduced into the Grey’s Anatomy world when April had him bring a Jordanian orphan to Grey Sloan for a special pro bono surgery. Apparently, April and Nathan know each other from her time in her Doctors Without Borders. While this is a jealousy bombshell for Jackson, it’s not the biggest bombshell — Nathan and Owen bump into each other in the hospital and oh, boy, it is not pretty. Nathan assures Owen that he’ll be leaving soon, and Owen is all, “Yeah, you better leave soon!” I assume they were in the army together and that’s how they met. Owen doesn’t usually get worked up about a lot of things, so what in the hell did Nathan do to Owen to have him cast him out of his hospital? I have a few ideas.

Owen & Nathan Killed A Special Patient In The Army

Owen was a surgeon in the army, and since Nathan worked with April in Doctors Without Borders, I’m sure that he was, too. Maybe they couldn’t save a soldier that really meant something to them — a friend — and couldn’t handle the loss. Each of them blamed the other. Owen left to return back to the States, and Nathan stayed behind, drifting from war-torn region to war-torn region, trying to save others to make up for the one he couldn’t.

Nathan Stole Owen’s Girl

On Grey’s, most of the drama circulates around relationships, so let’s throw this one in there. Maybe Owen and Nathan were friends in Afghanistan, and Owen told Nathan about a girl he had back home. Except maybe when Nathan met this girl, they fell in love and Nathan and the girl got together, leaving Owen with no best friend and no girlfriend. Poor Owen, right? That would make me angry enough to banish someone from my hospital.

Owen Got Passed Over For A Promotion That Nathan Received

Is Owen the jealous type? Perhaps he was working really, really hard when he was in the armed forces, saving patients and taking names, when Nathan, the new hotshot surgeon, came in and took the spotlight. Nathan got all the glory, Owen got all the guts, and Owen left to make his own path when boom — Nathan showed up at Grey Sloan. Blaze your own trail, dude.

From the looks of the previews, it seems like Nathan is staying around a little bit longer, whether Owen and the rest of the team (minus April) like it or not. I’m sure he’ll create plenty of drama in Grey’s Anatomy land, but will he be burying the hatchet with Owen?